Day after Day
by Kagome Juh
Summary: Lucy couldn't remember the last time she was truly happy. All the tragedies involving her family and the fear of the unknown couldn't let her live her life. However, everything could change in a single moment: the moment she met her new neighbor, Natsu Dragneel. Can Natsu teach her how to be happy again? AU
1. Part I - Her 20th birthday

**Sinopse:** AU - Lucy couldn't remember the last time she was truly happy. All the tragedies involving her family and the fear of the unknown couldn't let her live her life. However, everything could change in a single moment: the moment she met her new neighbor, Natsu Dragneel. Could Natsu teach her to be happy? Or fate wouldn't let them reach even that?

**AN: **Please give this story and the author a chance! I promise that you will not regret it :)

Oh, and I'm not used to write things in english, so If you see any grammar/spelling mistake, you can warn me (be gentle, please! :D).

* * *

**Part I – Her 20****th**** birthday**

******Disclaimer: **Fairy Tail don't belongs to me, unfortunately.

* * *

She would never forget her 20th birthday.

It was a sunny day, with the sun shining brightly and with the sky colored in a beautiful color of light blue. The air was humid like any other summer day at that region, and the shades made by the trees at that garden were refreshing. Her blond silk hair was flying with the breeze and her chocolate orbs were closed, savoring the feel of the nature around her relaxing being. Lucy Heartfilia couldn't feel lonely at that place even with her current situation of orphan, because she could certainly feel her parent's presence at each caress of the wind or at each warming sensation from the beams of the sunlight. Her simple clothing could have offended her strict father if he was still alive, but she couldn't care about that at that precise moment.

The huge mansion could be seen with perfect clarity from where she stood, but she didn't find any satisfaction in being so close to that haunted place. The house, which she couldn't call home, was the place where her mom had withered away slowly and painfully; it was the place where her father had closed himself away from her after Layla's death, treating his only child like a burden not worthy of being loved; it was the place where her only family perished with all the money, the status and the elegance that the high society had required from them. In fact, she kind of hated that house with all her being, something that wasn't really common of her personality: a forgiving and caring kind of person. If only she could let her memories of the few happy moments she lived there go…

It was midday, and she couldn't think in anything she could do. Her birthday wasn't a celebrating kind of day for years already, and she couldn't put her mind to think otherwise now that she didn't have anything worthy left.

"Miss Lucy!" The calling came from the house, but she didn't want to stand and go there. If Lucy had the courage she would sell the place so she could never have to go back there ever again. "Miss Lucy! Where are you?!" She could hear Ms. Spetto calling with some urgency, but she didn't know if she wanted to answer. Lucy could tell by the tone of the old woman's voice that she would have to make a decision about a situation she didn't have any knowledge of.

Or something like that.

"Oh, Miss Lucy, there you are!" The relief was evident in Ms. Stupetto's voice when she reached the blonde at the garden. The petit woman was gasping like she had run a marathon, supporting her hands on her knees and staring at Lucy in a disapproving way. She knew the young Heartfilia well to understand that the blonde could have helped her if she wanted to. "Miss Lucy, please answer me if I'm calling for you." Ms. Stupetto said with a motherly tone.

Lucy ignored all the commotion and kept her chocolate orbs closed. If she tried real hard she could still feel the breeze and the beams of sunlight in despite of the disturbance caused by the old woman.

"Miss Lucy, please don't ignore me, it's rude." The maid chided the young Heartfilia without real heat. Her grey eyes softened a little when she finally noted the peaceful way Lucy was laying there. "I only called because there is a couple at the living room asking about the house." She said, knowing that that subject would gather Lucy's attention without any sweat.

And it did, indeed.

Lucy opened her eyes and looked at the old woman. She couldn't tell if Ms. Stupetto's words were a relief or a curse at that moment. It was her birthday, for God's sake! She couldn't really think about selling the house at that date!

… Right?

"Tell them I'm not interested in talking about the house." She answered in a bored voice. The blonde couldn't let Ms. Stupetto take notice of the way that the idea was growing more and more inside her. It would only take a couple of years to make Lucy change her heart and sell the place, because for now she still couldn't think about living in a place that didn't hold any good memories of her short lived happy family; but later, she could totally see her hate for that place taking control of her decision. "Tell them to search for a normal house, not a haunted one." She completed, closing her eyes again and trying with all her might to suppress all the bitterness from her thoughts.

The maid sighed with exasperation. The young Heartfilia could be so difficult sometimes! "You know it's not haunted, Miss Lucy. The house has nothing with the way that Ms. And Mr. Heartfilia died." If she wasn't a motherly figure at Lucy's life, Ms. Stupetto knew that that kind of liberty wouldn't be permitted. She couldn't help but take notice of the way the blonde stiffened with her words, knowing that she had made the whole story short in a way not totally fair. "And the couple said that even if you said no, they wanted the house either way." She completed, regaining the young Heartfilia's attention.

"Well, too bad that I don't want to sell it!" Lucy answered with anger when she didn't have the force to suppress the hurt that those words had brought upon her.

"They insist." Ms. Stupetto retorted, almost getting worried with the way Lucy was getting red of anger.

"Oh my dear Lord!" Lucy shouted frustrated, and soon she was marching lividly to the house, with a stunned Ms. Stupetto behind her. The maid didn't get to see the blonde so infuriated frequently.

When Lucy reached the living room, she wasn't surprised to see a lovey-dovey couple sited on her couch. Only two loving birds would want to buy a mansion up the city hill with a ghostly appearance and a huge mistreated garden to build their soon-to-be-huge-family. The guy had a dark blue hair and grayish eyes; and, for some odd reason, wasn't wearing any shirt. The girl also had blue hair, but lighter, and dark blue eyes. She seemed really sweet and totally in love with him - if you take count of the possessive way she was clutching his arm with her tiny hands.

"How can I help you?" She asked, trying to keep up the education her father insisted in bestowing upon her even if she only wanted to kick them out of her house. The couple stood up and faced her with determination written in all lines of expression of their faces.

"We are fascinated with the house." The guy answered promptly and Lucy humpf'ed, really doubting the taste of the couple in front of her.

"I don't know how you can feel like that, because this mansion is in ruins." She voiced her opinion, gaining a quizzical look from the other girl.

"Well… I really don't think so." The guy commented slowly, looking at the blonde with confused eyes. Lucy could understand their reactions, because maybe, just maybe, the ruins were only seen by her.

The ruins of something that at some past time was just perfect.

"Look, I don't have any interest in selling this place. I'm sorry." Lucy said tired, only wanting to go back to the shades of the tree she was sitting under.

Until that moment, her birthday was proving to be a bad date just like in the previous years. She only wanted to find _peace_ when happiness was so far away.

"Juvia can sense that you are not happy here." The girl spoke for the first time, proving Lucy's perception of her sweet personality correct. Her voice was soft and her features were so friendly. The blonde never had friends of her own age and never missed the absence of such a thing. During her life, she didn't have the time to miss this kind of stuff, not if her father had anything to it; so now, at that moment, that some random girl was reading her like an open book and was offering a friendly look in despite of the blonde's rudeness, she didn't know what to do. At all. "So why do you keep living here?" Juvia, the way the girl called herself at that third person speech, looked at her with a sincere questioning look, like someone that could relate to her and couldn't understand her reasons to keep hurting herself like that. And for some reason, Lucy understood that the other girl too had lived a lonely life and that she had took the chance to change it, probably when the guy beside her appeared in the blunette's life.

The young Heartfilia felt all the happy memories flood her mind, blinding her of the reality she was living at that precise moment and taking her to a time when she was completely happy. The moments with her mother, an adult copy of herself, reading stories and singing to her to help the little Lucy sleep; the moments with her father when he was a good dad, playing with her at the garden and teaching her how to swim at their pool. Moments with both of them, lunching and dinning and talking and playing and doing everything together. All the parties, all the lessons and all the business conferences being held at that house, with her parents alive and well, treating her like a loved daughter would be treated.

"… Miss Lucy?" And then all her memories shattered like a big wall of glass, and Lucy found herself being helped by Ms. Stupetto to sit on one of the couches. The couple was looking at her with worried eyes, almost making her smile with the goodness inside them. "Are you ok?" The maid asked with trepidation.

"Yeah, yeah… I'm fine." Lucy answered weakly, feeling drained all of a sudden. "Can you please give me time to think about it?" She asked, noticing the way Ms. Stupetto gasped with surprise and feeling like gasping herself with her new initiative. After all, she knew that she wasn't ready to let the memories in that house go; but she couldn't help but admit to herself that maybe, just maybe, it was time to put everything in the past, because the happy memories she was holding to her heart with so much force were killing her slowly even before her mother's disease could manifest within her too.

The way their eyes brightened with hope couldn't make things any easier to Lucy.

"Of course! Here is our numbers. You can call as soon as you decide." The guy handed her a piece of paper with their names – Gray Fullbuster and Juvia Loxar – and their numbers. She took it with trembling fingers, nodding her understanding and watching how the other girl smiled at her in an approving way.

"I'll accompany you to the door." Ms. Stupetto smiled happily to the couple, leading them to the front door. The blonde kept looking at the numbers with a lost gaze, without really knowing what to do. She knew she needed to get out of that house, she knew that she had to live a little so her life wouldn't be a complete waste. She also knew she had to make new happy memories and put her past memories in the past, like they should be.

But she was afraid.

She was afraid of changing her life so suddenly without a way to go back. She was afraid of the outside world, one that she didn't know at all. She was afraid of making a decision she would later regret, without a way to make things right. She was afraid of forgetting her mother if she got away.

She was so _damn afraid_.

Ms. Stupetto returned to the living room without making a sound, only preoccupied with taking care of the young Heartfilia, especially now that she was a mess again. For years of her life she watched after the blonde, always trying to make things easy to her when everything in Lucy's life kept being complicated; but she failed so many times. First with the death of Ms. Heartfilia, a huge blow to the happy little girl and to Mr. Heartfilia too; second, with the way Jude started to treat the poor child, like she was the plague; and then, years and years later, when Mr. Heartfilia died too, leaving the girl behind without a family to call her own. The maid could understand why Lucy kept the house even with all her own suffering in keeping it; she could see in those chocolate orbs the fear of living outside of that place, in places she didn't know if they could do worse to her than her own house did; she could see in those big and still childish orbs the lonely and the desperate way Lucy clutched to the memories that the mansion hold within its walls, as a way of keeping her deceased parents with her at all times. She could say that if Lucy chooses to move out she would go with the girl. She just couldn't fail anymore.

"It's your decision, Miss Lucy." The maid said quietly.

Lucy looked at the old woman, seeing there the loyal way the maid always treated her and understanding in her words the simple fact that that Ms. Stupetto wouldn't let her alone even if she moved to another house.

And maybe, just maybe, that was the nudge necessary to make the blonde force herself to let go of the past; because in truth, she would _never_ be prepared to start a new life.

_But she could try_.

Lucy would never forget her 20th birthday, because in that day, she decided to take the chance of changing her life.

* * *

**AN: **So, how was it? I know it's only the beggining (and no, it won't be this depressing all the time hahahaha Natsu will change that real quick), but please do let me know what you all thought! :D

**Next chapter **- "Her new neighbor":

"Come here Happy, let's help the new neighbor!" He cut her off without mercy - oblivious to the way she was almost hyperventilating until that moment - calling for a _blue_ cat (!), getting both her and Ms. Stupetto's bags and entering Lucy's apartment - completely uninvited. "Geez, she kept the ice-prick's furniture!" Still at the outside of her new house, the blonde heard the man _complain_ about her new place. (...)

Natsu looked at her with a huge grin, making her doubt her own suggestion. "All right, then. Now I'm all fired up!" He agreed, and a meow came soon after his explosion of excitement.

She really, _really_ couldn't understand the blue cat.


	2. Part II - Her new neighbor

**Part II – Her new neighbor**

**********Disclaimer: **Fairy Tail don't belongs to me, unfortunately.

* * *

The city was simply mesmerizing. All the streets full of people and colors and kids and stores and _oh_ so much noise was just an awesome view. The way the sunlight bathed every inch of the city and the way many leafs would fall slowly and beautifully from the trees, making a little carpet at some points of the sidewalk, were fascinating to Lucy. She had visited the city before with her parents, and she did look at it from her old house; but being _there_ in the centre of it all was more exciting than whatever other experience she already had. She was just a little bit uncomfortable, considering all the faces that would turn to look at her, all the questioning gazes and all the hushed questions about who she could be.

Lucy kept wandering into the city, followed closely by Ms. Stupetto and Mathias, a little boy that offered to help both of them with their bags. The blonde didn't want to take anything with her besides her clothes and the Heartfilia's fortune, which was put securely in a bank; and now, she was searching for the place that the couple advertized about. She looked at every plaque and its respective name, trying to locate the Strawberry Street and the building she would find a place to live; but, until that moment, she was doing a poor job of it. She was just so distracted with all the new things she was seeing!

"Miss Lucy, maybe we should ask for directions?" Ms. Stupetto asked with a radiant smile and a knowing look in her face, making Lucy pout. The old maid knew that the blonde was excited for the first time in a long, _long_ time, and wasn't making any effort at hiding her amusement with the situation. "I think it's already lunch time and we didn't even accommodate our things." Ms. Stupetto pushed a little more.

"Ok, fine, I will concentrate in finding the place now." Lucy agreed blushing, making the old woman giggle and the little boy chuckle. She couldn't understand the feeling, because she thought she would never feel it again; but she was happy. She was satisfied in making those two laugh with the simplest of the things she had said or she had done.

Maybe being out of that house haunted with sad memories and bad experiences, was really making a huge difference in her way of seeing life, in her moods and her own deep feelings.

Then, with some more wandering, she finally found the right street. Soon after that, she was at the doorstep of the building, ringing an intercom and waiting for the landlady to show up.

To say she was nervous would be a great understatement.

"How can I help ya?" The old and big woman appeared out of nowhere, making Lucy shriek briefly. A manicured eyebrow rose with the blonde's surprise, and Ms. Stupetto had to hold a giggle from escaping. It was refreshing to see Lucy interacting with another people, and she was so giddy with all her reactions. She really felt like Lucy's mother sometimes.

"Uh… I-Uh, well…" Lucy stuttered, trying to recollect herself after that scary apparition. "I, well, I'm searching for a place to live." She finally said and sighed relieved. "I was the owner of the mansion up the hill, but I sold it." She pointed to the huge building at the distance, up the higher hill of the city.

The landlady's eyes followed her finger and widened a little with recognition. "So you are the Heartfilia girl." She said, not sounding at all like a question. "That Fullbuster boy warned me that you could be showing up." The woman completed, seeing Lucy nodding vigorously at what she said. "I see. Well, yeah, there is a place, and it's already furnished. The rent will be 70,000 jewels." That wasn't a problem at all with all the money she was left by her father, and soon Lucy was taking the stairs to the third floor. "You will be the neighbor of the Dragneel boy, so I advise you to lock your door when you go inside." The landlady commented with a straight face and then left, leaving the keys with Lucy, Ms. Stupetto and Mathias at the door of the apartment 301.

To say Lucy was a little bit afraid of that last advice would be an understatement too.

"Thank you very much for your help, Mathias." Lucy heard Ms. Stupetto say happily, and looked at their direction in time to see the woman handing the little boy a few jewels so he could buy whatever he wanted to. She smiled a little with the way his face brightened a lot with that little gesture. Then, the old maid looked at her, making the blonde avert her eyes to the door in front of her. "Oh well, open the door, Miss Lucy. I want to stow our things and go buy some groceries to our lunch." There you have it, the bossy maid that she was used to.

"Geez, I will, I will." Lucy mumbled, and then opened the door with one of the many keys in that bunch. But, before she could even put one foot inside the place, the door of the apartment 302 opened abruptly making her jump startled. Again.

"Hey there! So you are my new neighbor!" A deep guy's voice came to her ears, and with a lot of hesitation, she turned to look at him. Her breath hitched a little when she laid her chocolate orbs at him, almost drowning with the view of his tanned skin, broad shoulders, toned muscles, strong jaw and intense onyx eyes. She felt inebriated when his perfume reached her nostrils, and when the heat from his presence reached her skin with his proximity she felt all the air in her lungs vanish. His toothy grin made her heart beat faster and the way he walked with so much determination at her direction made her blush like no other time. He was _so hot_!

He was really handsome even with that pink hair, all spiky-ish and messy.

"Yeah-"

"Come here Happy, let's help the new neighbor!" He cut her off without mercy - oblivious to the way she was almost hyperventilating until that moment - calling for a _blue_ cat (!), getting both her and Ms. Stupetto's bags and entering Lucy's apartment - completely uninvited. "Geez, she kept the ice-prick's furniture!" Still at the outside of her new house, the blonde heard the man _complain_ about her new place.

Lucy was kind of petrified.

She had just met the guy, but she already knew that she had never known someone so unnerving!

"H-hey!" She stuttered and entered her own apartment too, getting even more surprised at seeing the invader checking her refrigerator. "HEY!" She shouted with anger, making the guy look at her like another head was growing on her neck. She was raised to be a lady, and even if that didn't turned out like her father wanted, she would expect the minimum of education from someone; so, seeing the guy that she didn't even know invade her new house and check her new refrigerator was more than she could handle. Seriously. "Could you stop that!" She completed, seeing as how he couldn't be satisfied in only checking her refrigerator, he wanted to check all her cabinets too.

"Calm down, neighbor. I'm only checking if that idiot left something behind. I wouldn't want you to be poisoned by any of his food!" He guaranteed, being soon accompanied by an agreeing meow.

Lucy couldn't understand the blue cat. She just couldn't.

"Just stop messing around my house!" She chided angrily, understanding the landlady's advice clearly at that moment.

"Miss Lucy, I will go buy our groceries. Young man, make her company, ok?" Ms. Stupetto said without any concern, receiving an indignant and disbelieving stare from Lucy and a nod from the guy. Smiling knowingly, she left the place.

For some odd reason, she just could see the children that that couple could make!

"I can't believe it!" Lucy muttered in disbelief, staring at the spot previously occupied by that traitorous maid. In her whole life Lucy never stayed alone with someone she didn't know. Even when her mother was alive and her parents would invite people to her house, they never let her stay with one of the guests without supervision. Even when her father would treat her no better than trash, he never forced her to greet any of his guests alone; and Ms. Stupetto knew this. How could she make such a thing to her now? She was trying so hard not to freak out about her new phase of life, and now she had to stay with a guy – handsome, but a complete stranger! – she never met before, alone, in her new house. How could she handle this kind of pressure?!

"Hey, neighbor, do you think that lady will take too long to come back? I'm kinda hungry."

And a loose one, moreover.

"No, she will return in no time." She answered tiredly. "Can you please stop messing around? I don't even know the place yet, I want to be the one messing things here." She whined frustrated, seeing as how the guy didn't quit his tweaking with her new furniture.

To her surprise, he ignored her.

And the cat did too.

"Oh God, please help me here…" Lucy muttered in despair, already missing the peace of her old home. She knew that it was natural to miss that place even if it didn't make her a happy person, because she lived there all her life; but that situation with her weird neighbor and his weird BLUE CAT was making her homesickness even worse. "At least call me by name. I'm Lucy." She completed without any enthusiasm.

"I'm Natsu, Luigi. And this is Happy." He answered excitedly, pointing to his cat to give emphasis of who could be Happy. Those two were the only ones there, how could she doubt that he was calling the cat Happy? And why he was calling her Luigi?!

"It's Lucy." She corrected, already feeling exhausted.

Lucy couldn't help but be exasperated with the way he could tire her so easily. Maybe she really needed that type of contact with others after so many years of cold solitude. She couldn't count the times her father's guests would come to her house for some high society meeting, or even the times when people of all places came to her asking about her old house; those times weren't really social contact with others, they were only brief meetings with no real expectations or needs to show more than one emotion. She could only stare and be educated with her father's guests and be direct with those who tried to buy her old house. So, at that precise moment, which she needed some social capacity to kick those two out or even accept their presence in her new phase of life, she could see that maybe, just maybe, it could be good for her. To make friends. To get over all her life of nothingness and give it a meaning.

"If you really want to have free pass to my refrigerator, you really need to carry my bags to my bedroom." She said, crossing her arms with determination. If she wanted to learn to act around people for a longer time than a brief meeting, she needed to learn to give a little so she could receive too. Maybe that wasn't really the right choice of philosophy, but she would see that with time. She needed to learn the first step, first.

Natsu looked at her with a huge grin, making her doubt her own suggestion. "All right, then. Now I'm all fired up!" He agreed, and a meow came soon after his explosion of excitement.

She really, _really_ couldn't understand the blue cat.

"So let's go, I will really need another pair of hands to make the stowage faster." She said clapping her hands and waiting for him to get all the bags in the living room.

When they reached the items, that Natsu got them with a bit of force, Lucy couldn't help but notice how his biceps would twitch with his movements or how his hands would grab her bags so firmly. She didn't understand her sudden attraction for the stranger, because in all her life she never felt like that with no one else; but she couldn't say that that unknown feeling was a bad one. All the butterflies in her stomach and the way her face was getting hotter and hotter while she stared at his body's attributes were good changes to her previous state of lethargy.

Maybe she should stop staring. What was the social rule to this kind of situation, again?

"What are you waiting for?" She heard Natsu asking from another room (maybe she should be less distract too), and soon she was running there. She would never admit, but she was smiling a little bit with the entire situation. And, for some odd reason, she felt a little excited with his carefree way of acting.

Maybe he could teach her to be more like him.

Maybe her new neighbor could, one day, be the best of her friends- "Geez, are these your panties? Look, Happy, she still wears the yellow ducks' ones!"… Scratch that. Maybe she just needed some heavy weapon to kill an inconvenient neighbor. "Oh-ho! There are some of them with squirrels too!"

Yeah, that's it.

* * *

**AN: **Well, I hope this chapter was better than the first. But, look, I'm not going to add any new chapters without reviews. I need to know your thoughts about this fic, I need to feel like there are people reading it. So, I'm grateful to CatsCradle22 and Critic-san for adding this to your favorite/following lists; and to IG1701FT and Rose Tiger for adding this to your following list too, but I won't even finish the third part because I don't know if I will continue this story (I was so excited with the idea D:)

So, what I wanted to say is that it's your choice, really. If you want to read more, send me reviews :)

**Next chapter...? **- "Her first night"

_They talked about everything and nothing at the same time. She asked about the weather, even when she knew everything about it for living in that region for all her life; she asked about the neighbors of the others apartments, only to discover that everyone was Natsu's friends and they were, like him, kind of insane; she even asked about Happy's color of fur, and rendered herself speechless with the information that the man dyed the poor cat's fur every once in a while. _

_His excuse? Because it made Happy, well, happy. _

_She giggled a little bit remembering her stunned silence when Natsu told her that. _


	3. Part III - Her first night

**Part III – Her first night**

**Disclaimer: **Fairy Tail don't belongs to me, unfortunately.

* * *

The silence of the night wasn't so dense like before. From outside of her window she could still hear a few people talking and a low song playing somewhere in the neighborhood. Lucy wasn't used to things like that at her old house, which was surrounded by woods at the higher hill of the city; she never heard anything but her own breath when she was trying to sleep there, and with the lack of sound at the mansion she was always wondering if she was left completely alone. But now, at this new place, she could hear every little thing that happened outside her bedroom.

It was like the city was alive and never asleep.

Furthermore, the bed felt different. The sheets were more rustic, the pillow was harder than she was used to and the mattress was just too large for only her. The bedroom in general felt different too. The walls were so plain without any mirror or painting, the window didn't have any curtains on it and the wardrobe was just so _simple_ that it kind of scared her a little. The darkness wasn't complete, and to someone who got used to sleep in a complete blackout it had too much light.

So, cutting the story short: Lucy couldn't sleep.

She started to replay in her mind all the talk she and Natsu had that day after her tiny attempt of homicide, and the eventual act of kicking them out from her apartment (to then see Natsu and Happy return by the window like nothing happened at all). When she had finally began to put her clothes in her wardrobe, the loose guy AND his cat had lay down on her bed like _they_ were the owners of the place and had watched her do her things. When she asked for another pair of hands she didn't thought it would turn out like that. At all. So, while she was doing all the job, they kept an easy talk between them. She didn't know why she was trusting such a guy to stay with her while Ms. Stupetto was out – she didn't know why Ms. Stupetto was trusting him either! – but she sure was enjoying his company, which surprised her a lot.

They talked about everything and nothing at the same time. She asked about the weather, even when she knew everything about it once she lived in that region for all her life; she asked about the neighbors of the others apartments, only to discover that everyone was Natsu's friends and they were, like him, kind of insane; she even asked about Happy's color of fur, and rendered herself speechless with the information that the man dyed the poor cat's fur every once in a while.

His excuse? Because it made Happy, well, happy.

She giggled a little bit remembering her stunned silence when Natsu told her that.

Then she thought about the way he talked about Gray, the one that bought her old house, with his supposedly mean nicknames (ice-prick, ice-princess, stripper, idiot and multiple other options) and the denials about their status of childhood friends. She could see in his eyes that he cared about his friend, even when he tried to convince her that the other guy was just his punching bag.

Yeah, right.

"They bought the mansion because yeah, they kind of want to have a big family – Juvia sure wants to try for it, at least." She blushed at the innuendo of those words. Really, she couldn't fathom how he could say something like that so shamelessly when she couldn't even look at him there, laying on her bed like a handsome and attractive Greek God. "Plus, our group of friends is incredibly big, so the mansion could afford everyone's presence there in festive moments too." He completed, causing a tiny smile to appear at Lucy's face with the image of a huge group of people happily partying in that old and big mansion. She didn't know how to explain it, but the idea of a big and happy family enjoying a house her own family never enjoyed made a whole new satisfaction be born inside her. Lucy had only taken one tiny opportunity to change her own life and had changed a lot more than she had originally planned for. And his explanation did warm her a little bit to his presence in her life, too. Maybe because Natsu was in some way related to the ones responsible to all the changes at the mansion (something that satisfied her to think about the happiness that that house could finally experience), or maybe because he was giving her an answer about her fear of putting that place in her past and regretting it later (without even knowing, he was proving to her that she had made the right choice); she didn't know for sure what was causing this new and warm feeling in her chest when she thought about this new changes, but she knew that she was kind of grateful that that tiny development had occurred in so little time.

Then she remembered the way his whole face lit up when Ms. Stupetto knocked at the door (she face palmed with the memory. She should have unlocked the door after Natsu's return by the window) and called both of them advertising about all the food she had bought to lunch, and giggled a little more.

That first day at this new place was memorable.

She had giggled multiple times!

She closed her eyes, trying real hard to feel sleepy after all those thoughts, but nothing happened. She still could feel the stiffness of the pillow, the largeness of the mattress and all the fibers from the sheets. The light that came from the cracks of the window wouldn't let her sleep, and the sounds of the city life outside of her bedroom didn't cease enough to her mind act in her tiredness. Lucy just couldn't sleep, not in the new house where all the shadows were so much scarier than the old ones.

She sighed. She missed her old house, her old bed, her old bedroom…

She got up abruptly, noticing how her thoughts started to wander in dangerous paths. She couldn't let herself regret her decision, not when her first day turned out so great nor when she met someone that could one day be a great friend- an _inconvenient_ one, but still a friend. Determinate to not let her homesickness mess with her new resolve of taking the opportunities shown to her, Lucy grabbed one of her lighter jackets, put on her black sneakers and left her bedroom with the decision that she would walk around the town for a bit to clear her mind enough so she could be capable of sleeping.

And that was what she did. With the bunch of keys and some jewels in her jacket's pocket she left the building to the fresh air of the Strawberry Street, feeling the breeze of the night caress her blond hair with tenderness and the weak lights of the light poles shine upon her. Even with all the houses and building and parked cars around her, Lucy felt like she was at home with the freedom of the night outside a closed room.

She took a deep breath, feeling much better now that she could see the stars, and started to walk down the street. She wandered a little bit searching for the little park she had seen at some point earlier that day, and when she finally found the place, Lucy sat on one of the benches and tried not to feel fear with the fact that she was completely alone in that place at that hour of the night.

She should have thought about that before leaving the security of the apartment.

The blonde looked around to see if there was anyone suspicious only to see not one single soul at the park. _Oh well, if that doesn't change any time soon, I'll be fine._

Lucy closed her eyes trying to hear only the sounds of the night, what wasn't really easy. Just like at her new neighborhood, the one that held the park too had a low music playing somewhere and a few houses and building with wide awake and talking people. She sighed exasperated. She really wasn't used to all those noises.

Then, out of nowhere, she started to hear a familiar voice, which was talking to another being with a familiar meow too.

Oh boy.

"…can't believe it. He just couldn't sell me your food now, could he? It would take only a bit to take the thing! Geez…" She heard the complaint and stared with disbelief to the direction that the voice came from. She should be hearing wrong, that's the only explanation. Natsu wouldn't want to someone - probably a _sleepy _someone - to sell him cat food at this time of the night, right? "That guy… I'm telling you, Happy, his heart is colder than the Ice-princess's!" And then, she could see the two of them at the park too.

She couldn't even believe that.

He _really_ had tried to buy the cat's food at that hour of the night.

"He _is _insane." She murmured stunned. Lucy knew he wasn't normal the moment he invaded her house to raid her refrigerator when he didn't even know her; but that was even worse! He had utterly proved to her, at that moment, that he didn't have any common sense. At all.

"He is really worse- oh, hey, what are you doing here, Luigi?" He asked when he finally noticed the lonely blonde figure seated on the benche. Lucy stared blankly at him, feeling all the exasperation with his antics return with full force.

"It's Lucy." She corrected him – again. He ignored her, of course, looking at her with his questioning and _oh always so_ intense onyx eyes (she really should stop drowning in them). She sighed, finally feeling sleepy. She should have thought about asking Natsu to tire her, he was so efficient! _Ugh, that sounded so wrong._ "I couldn't sleep." She finally answered his question, and tried not to make a face when he sat on the benche too.

"That's because you ate like an elephant at dinner." He commented bluntly, ignoring the way her face got red with embarrassment.

"Shut up!" She yelled at him, slapping his arm without real force. "You ate even more than me!" Lucy accused, glaring at him for a while, puffing out a little breath and then turning her face away in a pout.

She was too old to that thing of pouting, but apparently with Natsu that was just a normal thing to happen.

He too was immature, after all.

"But I'm a growing boy, I can eat all of that and not get fat or even have problems to sleep." He answered cheekily, making her blush even more.

"You are so inconsiderate!" She gritted out feeling really tired at that moment. Lucy was starting to think that his over energetic self was consuming _her_ energy when they were together talking about anything. Seriously.

"Oh, don't be like that!" He continued with the cheekiness, making Lucy want to wipe that toothy grin off of his face. Happy meowed beside them apparently teasing her too. "It's nice to see a girl with appetite. That's not a shame!" He teased in a complimenting way, making her blush darker shades of red. Lucy didn't know what he was doing to her, with his wondrous grin and mischievous eyes; but he was making all her insides turn to jelly without really doing any effort. That wasn't fair at all. She didn't even know what that kind of reaction meant!

"Stop!" She chided weakly, pushing him a little bit and ignoring the laughing meow followed by her antics.

She didn't know a cat could laugh.

Actually, she couldn't believe she was starting to understand the cat's meows!

"Maybe it's just because it's your first night in the new house." He said sympathetic, which caused Lucy to look at him really surprised. She didn't know that Natsu had more emotional depth than a teapot. Really.

"Yeah… That makes sense." She agreed slowly, waiting for the moment he would ruin this mature side of him with an idiotic comment.

"If you want me to, I can stay at your window talking to you while you try to sleep. That always worked for me when I was little." He continued, making her jaw fall open. Where was the idiotic comment? "Especially those times my father and I moved to another place. Geez, those were the worst first nights of my life." Natsu sighed with the memory, scaring the hell out of Lucy with his sudden maturity.

At that precise moment, she really felt childish with her previous pouting. And that wasn't even fair, because he was childish almost all the time!

"…Ok." She agreed with the idea when nothing else seemed to appear in her mind. She was really dumbfounded with that side of his personality. Lucy knew she shouldn't judge someone she only knew for one day (that was a social rule too, right?), but with all the experiences she had with the guy for some hours, she really had thought Natsu incapable of such a good perception.

He grinned again all seriousness gone from his face, and _now_ Lucy knew the idiotic comment was coming. Fast. "But I can't do miracles, you know. You _really_ ate too much tonight!"

In an instant he was running from her to the direction of their building, laughing his head off; and she was following him with homicide intent and frustrated calls. And Happy, the blue cat, was walking calmly behind them, knowing well how to get in Lucy's apartment without a sweat.

That night, Natsu talked to her for a couple of hours, and before he got to his own apartment – he really should tell her that her balcony gave an easy access to anyone who wanted to get in her bedroom… Or not. He really liked to invade the apartment and clear the refrigerator even when Gray lived there – he looked at her sleeping form in a pensive way.

Who would know that this rich girl was so lonely? And, oh pray tell, who would know that she still wear panties with yellow ducks in them, too?

He chuckled before leaping out of her apartment.

He, for a fact, knew both.

* * *

**AN: **Thank you so much for all the reviews! Thank you Rose Tiger, Sheridan Leeah, AskHappyAyeSir, MnMs98, Jekac (pode mandar em português sim, fica a vontade :D) and CatsCradle22 for spending time writing your thoughts! I was really happy when I saw the email alerts :)

What did you think about the new sides of Natsu's personality that were showed in this chapter?

**If you want to read more, send me reviews :)**

**Leitores brasileiros**: Se tiver mais alguém além da Jekac que seja do Brasil, mandem review em Português! Ficarei muito feliz em saber o que vocês pensam também!

**Next chapter - **"Her experience in dance club"

_"It's just a dance club, Luigi!" Yeah, he still called her that way._

_"It's Lucy, Natsu, Lu-cy." And she still corrected him every single time._

_"Everyone wants to meet you. Fairy Tail isn't a bad place, you will like it!" And he always ignored her, usually insisting in something she was being difficult with._

_If you asked Ms. Stupetto her opinion about their growing friendship, she would say that the two acted like an old married couple. If Lucy heard Ms. Stupetto saying something like that, it was even worse with all the blushing and denials and running to her bedroom only to find Natsu and Happy in her bed like they never left at all. _


	4. Part IV - Her experience in dance club

**Part IV – Her experience in dance club**

**Disclaimer: **Fairy Tail don't belongs to me, unfortunately.

* * *

The first week was simply breathtaking. Natsu and Happy would appear any time of the day without any warning, requiring food (verbally in Natsu's case and meowing in Happy's) like there was no tomorrow, and turning the TV on while laying on her couch with their feet and paws all over it without any care in the world. They would show up during the night too, knowing that Lucy still had trouble sleeping and they were supposedly wanting to help her with it: Natsu would talk to her and Happy would lay beside her, forcing Lucy to pet him with all his cuteness. At times the blue cat would appear alone, meowing restlessly until she gave him some fish; sometimes her neighbor would appear alone, asking restlessly for food and food and food…! Seriously. She didn't know until when she would still have money with the way things were going, but she didn't have the heart to deny it to them. After all, she was getting used to those two, to their presence and antics. She could already understand almost every meow Happy meowed! It was such a development (and disturbing thing to do too)!

So, in the end, she didn't leave her new apartment for days, only interacting with Ms. Stupetto, Natsu and Happy (A cat and two people. That was good considering that she wasn't really a people person… Right?). With the time she spent with those three, she didn't have any left to do anything else – at least, it was her argument to convince herself to not do things that would go beyond her new routine.

Lucy knew she needed to be more open minded with a lot of things. She knew that not regretting moving out of the mansion was a good first step to be more carefree, but she also knew that it wasn't enough. She needed to stop feeling fear of the unknown - which was pretty much everything. She could be brave at some occasions, like the time she left the apartment at the middle of the night that first day; but most of the time she was just a lot of nerves and fears, incapable of jumping head on in new adventures or new challenges presented to her. So, she knew she needed to do more. But, when the weekend came and the chance _to do something_ came up, Lucy wasn't expecting any more emotion than she already had during the week, and wasn't planning to do anything different from the things she did all her life: read a good old book and try to write her novel.

However, Natsu was thinking differently – what she should have known would happen, of course.

"It's just a dance club, Luigi!" Yeah, he still called her that way.

"It's Lucy, Natsu, Lu-cy." And she still corrected him every single time.

"Everyone wants to meet you. Fairy Tail isn't a bad place, you will like it!" And he always ignored her, usually insisting in something she was being difficult with.

If you asked Ms. Stupetto her opinion about their growing friendship, she would say that the two acted like an old married couple. If Lucy heard Ms. Stupetto saying something like that, it was even worse with all the blushing and denials and running to her bedroom only to find Natsu and Happy in her bed like they never left at all.

Despite of the fact that those two were already adults (and the cat was, well, a big cat), they always acted childish about everything.

"Natsu, don't you understand? I've never been in a dance club before! I don't think it's a place for me, you know, so just drop it!" She whined unhappily, thinking about her precious routine of the weekend. She really wanted to read a book and write a new chapter for her novel, was that asking too much?

"That's no sense. Fairy Tail isn't a typical night club, Luigi, I know you will like it. And everyone wants to meet the new neighbor that doesn't let anyone but me and Happy enter her home."

"Actually, I don't _let_ you come in, you know, you just barge in without any invitation!"

"That's beside the point."

"And it's Lucy, not Luigi!"

"Why are you still insisting in this? Geez!" He complained like she was being unfair. Seriously, Lucy still didn't know how someone could be so blatantly shameless about simple social rules. Yeah, ok, she didn't know all those rules herself, once she didn't have that much social contact (_real_ social contact) with a lot of people after her mother's death; but she still could guess them!

"I already said no, Natsu. I meant it." She said with so much fatality that even the boy was a little bit surprised with her determination.

Oh well, she should know that nobody can be more determinate than her like Natsu can, so _there you go_ peaceful weekend!

It was nice dreaming about you!

"You _are_ going, Luigi. I will get you at eight, you better be prepared!" He answered with a scowl, crossing his arms with an air of who wouldn't accept another refusal, and locked his _oh so intense_ eyes to hers. Jesus, Natsu could be such an attractive caver man sometimes!

Ugh, that was just wrong.

"Ugh, fine. Ok. Are you happy now?" The _huge_ grin that showed up in his face should be answer enough to that question. "I hate you." She murmured without any heat.

"Blah, you really don't!" He laughed happily, making Lucy feel the all so familiar exhaustion she felt every time they argued with each other, what could be said was somewhat frequent. Happy meowed like he was agreeing with his human buddy, and she totally understood the teasing behind the happy meow.

Ok, that was a little confusing and a little _disturbing_ too. Sometimes Lucy remembered that she was starting to comprehend all the variations of a simple meow, and that that wasn't normal. At all.

Natsu was a bad influence, that's for sure.

"Ok, ok." She agreed without _reaaally_ agreeing. "So, what should I wear?"

That proved to be a really good question.

"I don't have the slightest idea." Natsu said, looking at her like she had three heads.

Lucy sighed in exasperation. She has never gone to a night club, so how should she know how to dress herself? If Natsu that goes frequently to this kind of place didn't have an idea, why should she?

Seriously, she was already tired and sleepy only thinking about it.

"Get out, I can't think properly with you here." She complained.

"That's mean!" He pouted, making her question herself about his mental age - not for the first time.

Lucy only glared at him, making pretty obvious that that wasn't something she was willing to discuss. "Get _out_." She repeated, giving emphasis to the last word.

He sighed (acting like she was giving him a headache), and like he was the most condescending person in the world - he agreed. "Ok, I will get you at eight then, be ready!"

When he left to his own apartment, Lucy thought that she would have at least a couple of hours of rest and peace, but she soon understood that she was being naïve.

Ms. Stupetto proved that she could be more persistent than ever.

And suddenly Lucy was out there in the city - facing all the different and sometimes hostile faces and cars and honks and clothes stores with crazy girls pushing expensive clothes at you and all the crazy stuff that happened outside her tiny apartment - looking for a nice outfit with her bossy maid and a bad feeling inside her chest (and a bit of a panic attack with all the weekend's time that adventure was consuming and all the _people_ getting inside her personal bubble).

And to add to all her doubts and fears and uncertainties and all the motives she was listing to _don't go to the damn club_; this time, the unknown appeared even more dangerous than before: what if Natsu's friends didn't like her at all?

What if he left her _alone_ in a place she has never been?

* * *

At eight o'clock, Lucy was waiting for Natsu to show up. Of course he didn't, because he was a I'm-sorry-I'm-late kind of person; but she didn't know that, so she waited and waited.

At some point, he knocked at her door like a civilized person would do and scared the crap out of her. Really, she wasn't expecting _him_ to do something so _well behaved_! She could already see the Murphy law acting that night with that abnormality happening so soon!

"Good evening, Natsu!" Ms. Stupetto greeted him with a big motherly smile, making him grin the _oh so brilliant and perfect_ grin that could blind Lucy with all the glowing happiness. Should she hope that one day she would be capable of doing something like that too? "You are nicely clothed."

Ms. Stupetto should know not to compliment the guy.

Seriously.

"Oh I know!" He agreed bluntly, making the old woman chuckle with amusement. "Sometimes I don't know how I can be so handsome!"

"God forbid you being _more_ humble!" Lucy muttered under her breath, glaring daggers at Ms. Stupetto's back and trying to glare at him too with some unknown x-ray vision.

Soon Happy showed up and looked at her like she was the greatest fish of all, which made him look like a creepy blue cat (what wasn't so much of a surprise, really) and made her go to the other side of the sofa so she could get away from the feline. She liked all her body parts, _thank you very much_.

"So, is Lucy ready? I said that she should be ready!" She heard Natsu complain and sighed, asking herself _why she agreed with this_?

"I'm here." She called, making the guy look past the old woman and double-take when his intense onyx eyes locked at her figure.

She should have known that Ms. Stupetto's choice of clothes wasn't one of the bests. How could someone be proper clothed with a loose black blouse that showed a bit of her abdomen, her bellybutton and shoulders with tight jeans that didn't let anything for the imagination? Her legs were covered alright, but all the muscles and curves were showing like she was naked! And what about those damn high heels? They were way too high! Let's not think about her hair that, instead of being in that decent bun that her parents asked of her in those parties when she was little, was free to the wind like never before in some social event. And the make up! She didn't even remember the last time she used make up, and now here she was, using all theses facial paints only to go out there with Natsu and his friends.

She overdid herself, Lucy just knew it! She should go back to her bedroom and forget everything and even ignore Natsu and his stubbornness-

"Wow, you look great, Luigi!"

-and then all her doubts about her looks vanished. The fear and the bad feeling were still there, but at least now she had a bit of confidence that her old maid didn't messed up.

And then, she noticed that he called her by the wrong name again!

"It's Lucy, Natsu!" She yelled with irritation, making him laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Luigi." He smiled with amusement, making her 'humpf' with impatience. Looks like he baited her for the fun of it.

Lucy felt like murdering him.

"So let's go, Fairy Tail won't wait forever!" He exclaimed, going to her, holding Lucy's hands and going out of the apartment with a brief 'Bye bye Ms. Stupetto!' in his wake. The only thing the blonde noticed was that Happy stayed at her place and that that probably meant her old maid was going to feed him some more fish.

She could already mentalize the meow of gratefulness.

Oh dear, she was getting worse in her craziness.

"You will love it, you'll see!" Natsu was being so cheerful and excited with her soon-to-be presence at the club, that she was finding difficult to say to him to slow down a bit before she could fall to the ground with those high heels.

But, at some point, she found it was even more dangerous to keep her mouth shut about that.

"Slow down, Natsu!" She complained, pulling her hand with enough strength to get his attention. "If you keep this up I won't get there safe and sound." Lucy pouted, seeing how he was looking at her with questioning eyes.

He smiled again while his features softened the slightest bit. "Ok, I will slow down a bit. But you better keep the pace up from now on!"

She didn't know why that worked, but his words seemed to act like an encouraging speech and soon she was happily walking by his side.

Without even noticing they were still holding hands.

After some time walking and chatting, she soon found herself at the entrance of a tall and bright building, with big wood doors and lights all over the gateway. The neon lights at Fairy Tail's sign were almost blinding, and the loud music coming from inside could almost make her deaf.

She looked to the place with a bad feeling. Suddenly all the fear she could feel sometimes of the things she didn't know came to her with full force, making her flinch at the tiny pull Natsu gave her to the entrance. She wasn't feeling very brave at the moment.

She didn't _want_ to go there! _Why_ she agreed with him?

And then she was inside the place and being pulled by Natsu through the crowd, feeling his fingers slipping from her grasp without much effort until she couldn't feel them at all. The place was so crowded and full, and the air was to hot and thick, that she felt extremely uncomfortable and _caged_ and _where is Natsu for God's sake? _

Why he left her completely_ alone_ in the middle of that place?

And suddenly there was _so much people_ and _not_ _so much space_ that the claustrophobic feeling she didn't even remember the last time she felt resurfaced with a vengeance, and with that all the faces and shots of light and the music and even _Natsu's short absence_ became simply _too much_.

The world suddenly became one of her greatest nightmares and she was alone_ alone __**alone**__, _and at that moment all that mattered was _to get the hell out of there_!

"Lucy!"

She didn't even registered Natsu calling her by the right name for the first time.

Lucy felt lost, in a blur of panic and hard breathing, searching for the exit and not finding it, feeling all the people around her pressing themselves to her like the place lost size and became even smaller- and why she was alone _alone_ **_alone-_**!

"Lucy! LUCY!"

And then strong arms were around her trembling and tiny body, making her stiff and alert to shove away the pervert that was caging her _even more-_

"Lucy, calm down, it's me!" And then she opened her eyes (_when did she close them?_) and looked directly into onyx eyes, the same eyes that watched her sleep at night when she complained about the shadows at her walls and the noise from the outside her bedroom. The same eyes that laughed at her expense when he called her by the wrong name and saw her overreacting to his stupid antics and the same eyes that hold so much mischief every time she caught him acting like the owner of her fridge. "Calm down, breath!" He insisted, making her drown in his eyes with all the concern and the _care_ he hold for her, even if they knew each other for only a week or two. "You can do it, just breath." And he was telling her to breath.

How hard could that be?

Very hard, indeed.

"Come on, Lucy, breath for me!" He insisted, and she was trying so hard to _remember_ how to breath- and then the air was inside her lungs and she found her voice again.

"Take me home, please!" Lucy practically begged, feeling completely exhausted and tired and panicked and-!

"Ok, let's go." And he agreed _so easily_ that it broke her heart a little bit, because he was so stubborn_ all the time_ and now he was losing his weekend because of her new breakdown and _why he was carrying her in his arms?_

Why his scent made her calm down? Why his arms made her feel so secure?

"Calm down, I got you." His words made her eyes sting even when they were already out the place and in the cooler air of the night.

She didn't even understand what _this_ unknown was-

"I got you."

_-_but later she would know that for the first time ever...

She learned how true friendship felt like.

* * *

**AN:** Thank you so much for the reviews and favs! Sorry for the long wait, but I really warned about my need of feedback to write the chapters.

So yeah, the 'going to the club' thing didn't work out so well. How Natsu will handle Lucy from here? And what about his friends? Lucy will ever be capable of socializing with other people besides Natsu and Ms. Stupetto?

Those are really good questions.

**So, if you want more, send me reviews! :D**

**Next chapter **- Her utmost fear:

The unknown was so _big, s_o _immeasurable_, that getting to know every little thing could make her life even more difficult at some point.

And that was the truth behind her fear of _life_ itself. Why get attached to it when she could possibly have her mother's disease?

Why let go of the memories, of the past, when she was so afraid of the future?


End file.
